Mepa clears controversial Xaghra development

The Malta Environment and Planning Authority yesterday gave the go ahead for the development of a controversial tourist project replacing an existing commercial complex at Triq Ghajn Qamar, in Xaghra.

The application was for the demolition of an existing tourist and entertainment complex, the construction of 23 self-catering villa-style tourist units with ancillary underground parking spaces, substation and pools, the restoration of an old building and its conversion into an administration centre for the complex and the establishment of an integrated landscaping scheme.

The site is characterised by a complex - the Ulysses Lodge - consisting of dwelling units and a large country residence-style entertainment compound.

The lodge has been used for a variety of purposes over the past years, but mostly as a night club and venue for various functions, such as weddings.

It is situated on a blue clay slope immediately below the Xaghra coralline plateau overlooking Ramla Bay on the north coast of Gozo. The development, which has been criticised by the Superintendent of Heritage, the Gaia Foundation, Alternattiva Demokratika, Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar (FAA), the Xaghra local council and residents, was approved with only one vote against - that of Labour MP Joe Brincat.

The case officer proposed to the Mepa board that a permit should be granted subject to a number of conditions.

He said the principle of development for the project was approved with the granting of an outline development permit given in October 2005. This permit included the approval of an indicative footprint, the location of buildings within the site and the profile of the building.

The main reserved matters indicated in the outline permission were the construction methodology, the landscaping of the site and other measures, such as the layout of utilities within the site.

During the assessment and deliberation of the outline application, the applicant had submitted a detailed project description statement, accompanied by supporting studies on a series of topics.

This documentation was deemed sufficient material to determine the impacts of the development and the mitigating measures required. No significant impacts on the environment were identified at this stage.

So, the assessment on the full development application, the planning officer said, focused on the submitted designs and details of mitigating measures.

Rudolph Ragonesi, from the Gaia Foundation, said that as an environment impact assessment (EAI) for this project had not been carried out, a lot of the public consultation that usually took place with EIAs never happened and there was less information about the project. This was one reason why it was not opposed at outline stage.

However, the project was still outside development zone and on land of a high landscape value and the proposed building was covering a bigger footprint than the existing one, he argued. There could also be archaeological remains on site.

Astrid Vella, representing the FAA and the local council, said the board should examine how the outline development permit had been issued. For this was given on the incorrect assumption that the proposed building would be a redevelopment covering the existing building footprint when the existing building covered less than half the proposed footprint.

The developer also claimed that a major part of the project was being proposed on disturbed land when, in fact, a substantial part was not.

Speaking on behalf of the developer, Edward Debono said that the archaeological remains in the areas were some 50 metres out of the buffer zone.

He said the outline permit had been issued according to law and the board should now only consider the design, the external appearance and the proposed landscaping.

He insisted that the development was not outside development zone but in an area that had already been developed, and on the same footprint. And the impact of the proposed development was to be much less than that of the current one, he said.

Mepa yesterday also unanimously approved full development permission for internal and external alterations to a previously approved apartment block at Ta' Xbiex Seafront, outline development for the demolition of structures, excavation to four storeys and construction of three high-rise buildings of 13, 27 and 33 floors respectively over a public piazza connecting Enrico Mizzi and Testaferrata streets, in Msida and outline development for the upgrading of quays and a vessel manoeuvring area at the Malta Freeport, in Birzebbuga.